A deep clean is not a longer standard clean. It is a different job: every surface is scrubbed rather than wiped, the places a weekly clean never reaches are opened up, and the build-up that has been accumulating since the last one gets removed rather than moved. This is the national checklist our own teams work from, written so you can follow it alone with supermarket products, and printed so you can tick it off as you go.
Work the list in order. Top to bottom in each room, floors last, and the whole kitchen and bathroom set moving before you touch anything else — oven cleaner and limescale remover need dwell time, and that dwell time is free if you start it first.
the hours of a standard clean is the realistic planning figure for a first deep clean.
Before you start: the 20 minutes that save four hours
Before you start: the 20 minutes that save four hours
0 of 6 done — ticks are not saved
The single biggest time cost in a deep clean is re-doing work, and the usual cause is cleaning downward twice. Dust falls. If you vacuum before you dust the light fixtures, you vacuum again. Fix the order once and the day gets shorter.
Kitchen deep cleaning checklist
Kitchen deep cleaning checklist
0 of 15 done — ticks are not saved
The kitchen is where a deep clean is won or lost, because it is the only room where the dirt is chemically different. Grease does not respond to a general-purpose spray; it responds to an alkaline degreaser and a few minutes of patience. Spray the hood, the cabinet fronts above the range and the backsplash, then go and do something else for five minutes.
Bathroom deep cleaning checklist
Bathroom deep cleaning checklist
0 of 12 done — ticks are not saved
Two rules make bathroom work far quicker. First, dwell time beats scrubbing — limescale dissolves on a clock, not under pressure. Second, ventilation is the actual fix for recurring mildew. If the extractor fan is not moving air, everything you do to the silicone will need doing again in six weeks.
Bedroom deep cleaning checklist
Bedroom deep cleaning checklist
0 of 11 done — ticks are not saved
Living areas deep cleaning checklist
Living areas deep cleaning checklist
0 of 11 done — ticks are not saved
Whole-home finishing steps
Whole-home finishing steps
0 of 7 done — ticks are not saved
How long a deep clean actually takes
For a home that has had regular maintenance cleaning, a deep clean runs roughly twice the hours of a standard clean. For a home that has not had one in a year or more, plan for more than that, and expect the kitchen and the bathrooms to take about half of the total time between them.
| Home size | Deep clean | Standard clean, for comparison |
|---|---|---|
| Studio | $160–$220 | $120–$170 |
| 1 bedroom | $180–$260 | $140–$200 |
| 2 bedrooms | $220–$330 | $170–$255 |
| 3 bedrooms | $280–$420 | $220–$330 |
| 4 bedrooms | $350–$550 | $275–$430 |
You can size your own job on the cleaning cost calculator, or read the difference in scope in deep cleaning vs standard cleaning. If you would rather hand the list to somebody else, our deep cleaning service works to this exact checklist.
Local editions for NYC, Georgia and Florida
The core list is national, but two markets have enough of their own problems to justify their own version. Use them alongside this page rather than instead of it.
- Deep cleaning checklist for NYC apartments — radiator dust, pre-war windows, tight galley kitchens and building rules on access.
- Georgia deep cleaning checklist — humidity, pollen season, HVAC returns and crawl-space air.
- Florida humidity and salt air — the coastal variant of the same problem.
How often to deep clean
Twice a year is the general answer for a home with a regular maintenance clean on top. Once a quarter is closer to right if you have pets, allergies, a smoker in the house, or hard water that scales fixtures quickly. Once a year is enough only for a small, lightly used home that is cleaned properly every week.
Between deep cleans, a realistic maintenance rhythm keeps the next one from becoming a two-day project — that is what the weekly cleaning schedule is for.
More printable guides from the library
Every checklist we publish is built the same way: a web page you can work from on a phone, a print layout that drops the navigation and fits the boxes to paper, and a one-page PDF you can download or email to whoever is doing the work.
- Deep cleaning checklist — the full room-by-room reset, national edition.
- Weekly cleaning schedule — daily 15-minute blocks plus weekly, monthly and seasonal rotations.
- Airbnb turnover checklist — the 60-minute host edition with restock and photo-proof lists.
- Move-out cleaning checklist — what an inspector opens, room by room.